AN EVENING WITH CHICAGO JAZZ GIANT AND MACARTHUR AWARD RECIPIENT
KEN VANDERMARK AND EDITION REDUX
9PM | 21+
$20 IN ADVANCE | $25 AT THE DOOR
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EDITION REDUX IS THE MOST RECENT OF KEN VANDERMARK'S ENSEMBLES, AN ADDITION TO AN ONGOING SERIES OF BANDS THAT HAVE BEEN INTERNATIONALLY AND CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, WHICH INCLUDE THE VANDERMARK 5, FME, THE RESONANCE ENSEMBLE, THE TERRITORY BAND, MADE TO BREAK, AND MARKER. IN ADDITION TO VANDERMARK, WHO PLAYS SAXOPHONES AND CLARINETS WITH THE GROUP, THIS QUINTET IS COMPRISED OF LILY FINNEGAN (DRUMS), EREZ DESSEL (KEYBOARDS), AND BETH MCDONALD (TUBA/ELECTRONICS). THE MUSIC OF EDITION REDUX INCLUDES THE RANGE OF VANDERMARK'S INTERESTS AND INFLUENCES, INCORPORATING THE EXPERIMENTAL JAZZ OF THE AACM; THE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF IMPROVISED MUSIC BASED IN ENGLAND, NETHERLANDS, AND GERMANY; POST-PUNK, TROPICALIA, DUB, AND FUNK.
KEN VANDERMARK IS AN IMPROVISING MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER. MOVING TO CHICAGO FROM BOSTON IN 1989, HE WORKED FROM THE EARLY 1990S ONWARD, PERFORMING AND RECORDING IN AN ARRAY OF CONTEXTS WITH MANY INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED MUSICIANS, SUCH AS FRED ANDERSON, PETER BRÖTZMANN, SYLVIE COURVOISIER, HAMID DRAKE, MATS GUSTAFSSON, JOE MCPHEE, ANDY MOOR, JASON MORAN, IKUE MORI, JOE MORRIS, EDDIE PREVÓST, TOM RAINEY, CHAD TAYLOR, AND JOHN TILBURY.
HIS CURRENT GROUP ACTIVITY INCLUDES THE BANDS BENT ATLAS, LEAN LEFT, THE DKV TRIO, DEK, HIS LARGE ENSEMBLE ENTR'ACTE, THE ONGOING MOMENTUM PROJECTS; DUOS WITH TERRIE EX, CHRISTOF KURZMANN, DAMON LOCKS, PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE, MARS WILLIAMS, AND NATE WOOLEY; AND WORK AS A SOLO PERFORMER. KEN CO-FOUNDED CATALYTIC SOUND IN 2012, AN ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO THE ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY OF CREATIVE IMPROVISING MUSICIANS. IN 2014 HE BEGAN AUDIOGRAPHIC RECORDS, AN INDEPENDENT MUSIC LABEL. SINCE JUNE OF 2015, KEN HAS BEEN CO-CURATOR OF OPTION, A MUSIC AND INTERVIEW SERIES HELD AT EXPERIMENTAL SOUND STUDIO IN CHICAGO. HALF OF EACH YEAR IS SPENT TOURING IN EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, LATIN AMERICA, AND JAPAN; HIS CONCERTS AND NUMEROUS RECORDINGS HAVE BEEN CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AT HOME AND ABROAD. KEN'S ACTIVITY AS A WRITER INCLUDES LINER NOTES FOR A VARIETY OF RECORDINGS; AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EIGHTH EDITION OF JOHN ZORN'S ARCANA: MUSICIANS ON MUSIC, THE MUSIC JOURNAL SOUND AMERICAN, THE SPANISH LANGUAGE PERIODICAL, "EL ESTADO MENTAL," AND "CATALYTIC QUARTERLY." IN 1999 HE WAS AWARDED A MACARTHUR FELLOWSHIP IN MUSIC.
LILY FINNEGAN IS A CHICAGO BORN AND BASED DRUMMER, COMPOSER AND IMPROVISER. IN 2021 SHE EARNED A MASTER OF MUSIC FROM BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC, WORKING WITH TERRI LYNNE CARRINGTON AT THE INSTITUTE OF JAZZ AND GENDER JUSTICE. HER NEW PROJECTS HAVE INCLUDED THE KEN VANDERMARK QUINTET, SARAH CLAUSEN TRIO, SHOULDERBIRD, AND HER OWN SELF LED TRIO. CURRENTLY, SHE IS THE RECORD STORE MANAGER OF CATALYTIC SOUND.
AFTER WINNING MULTIPLE DOWNBEAT STUDENT MUSIC AWARDS, KEYBOARDIST EREZ DESSEL WORKED WITH A HOST OF JAZZ LUMINARIES WHILE STUDYING AT THE NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY. WHILE IN BOSTON, HE PERFORMED REGULARLY, AND LED HIS QUARTET TO TEACH IN OVER 50 WORKSHOPS in NEW ENGLAND. IN 2020, DESSEL MOVED TO SAVANNAH, GA for thE POSITION OF MUSIC DIRECTOR AT SAVANNAH MUSIC FESTIVAL JAZZ ACADeMY. HE CUrrENTLY LIVES IN CHICAGO, WHERE HIS MUSIC IS CENTERED AROUND EXPLORING IMPROVISATION, GRAPHIC NOTATION, AND POLYRHYTHMIC STRUCTURES. HE FREQUENTLY WORKS WITH CASSETTE TAPES, AND IS DEVELOPING WAYS TO PAINT WITH THE PIANO USING CHARCOAL, PASTEL PAPER AND LINEN.
BETH MCDONALD IS A CLASSICALLY TRAINED TUBA PLAYER GONE AWRY, USING THE INSTRUMENT ACOUSTICALLY AND WITH ELECTRONIC EFFECTS PEDALS. DENSING (2021), HER MOST RECENT ALBUM, USES TUBA AND ELECTRONICS IN CONJUNCTION WITH NATURAL ACOUSTIC RESONANCE TO BUILD UP UNPREDICTABLE NEW LAYERS OF SOUND, AND WAS PACKAGED IN HANDMADE FELTED WOOL. BETH HAS TOURED AS A CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSICIAN, CHAMBER MUSICIAN, AND SOLOIST, AND HOLDS DEGREES FROM NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY, NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY.